I am Humiliated, Denied, and Detained

Wheeeee!!! Now that I’m snug in the carpet and not rolling around in the moving contraption, I’m having a good time, despite my overall concerns about where I’m going. I poke my head out of the carpet when the moving contraption stops. I scoot out a bit a more when I see another dog being walked by a young guy. I take another look at the dog.

Wait, this is too easy. It’s Max! It has to be Max. I need to get out quickly so I make my move, jumping out of the moving contraption just as it starts to take off.

“Max! Max! It’s me, Hadley!” I call out, chasing him down the street. The guy and Max turn around. 

“Who the hell are you?” Max says. Except, it’s not Max—just a cairn terrier who looks a lot like him. No! This is horrible. And I lost my ride, to boot.

“Sorry, I thought you were a friend,” I respond, trying to be submissive. The guy looks confused but then bends down and pets me. He seems pretty friendly. He looks at my tag and says something that sounds nice.

I am completely demoralized as they continue their way down the road, Fake Max glaring back at me. I have no idea where I am or how to get back home. The nice guy stops at the end of the street and looks at me again. He seems to hesitate but then makes his way back to me, dragging Fake Max behind him.

“What are you doing? Why can’t you leave us alone? I just want to go on my walk and you’re messing everything up,” Fake Max growls. But his owner hushes him and bends down to look at my tag again. He then pulls his talking device out of his pocket (the same kind Owner is always on) and starts yapping away. I can tell my adventure is over before it really got started.

The nice guy stays with me for a long time, with Fake Max unimpressed at all the commotion. After a while, Sassy and her Owner pull up in a moving contraption, and Sassy’s Owner talks with the guy. 

Sassy says to me, “You have no idea how much trouble you’re in.” 

“You have no idea what a pain in the ass she is,” Fake Max interjects.

I slink down, humiliated and embarrassed. God, if I had only not gotten off that moving contraption with the long bed-like thing in the back. Sassy’s Owner finishes talking with the nice guy and then scoops me up and wags her finger at me. She puts me in the back of her moving contraption, with Sassy in the front staring back at me.

So much for freedom. So much for finding Max.